The Era of the Blossom
by JheneMaiko
Summary: Persona AU. Sakura's aunt wants to give her a better life after her traumatic past, but once she joins this new school she finds that it is not entirely all it is cracked up to be. Now Sakura finds herself saving the world. Naruto x Sakura R
1. Chapter 1: Fire Island

**Disclaimer:** I do not own Naruto or its characters.

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It feels surreal to be on this train. This train was leading to me to a new life; something completely different than my own. I was actually going to go out of Tokyo for once, which was something I never thought I would do. Well, it's not entirely my fault that I'm leaving Tokyo, I didn't make this brave decision by myself. In fact, it was my aunt who handed me this once in a lifetime opportunity.

She said to me, "Sakura," with that smile of hers that comforted me, "I've been saving up a lot of money for you to go this school. I know you've wanted to travel but I didn't have the money for it since I was fresh outta college, y'know. Now that I've got myself situated at the law firm, I could afford the tuition."

"Wait, what?" I was surprised. I actually didn't believe anything she said. She got her job? I was proud and I wanted to celebrate but she seemed really focused in what she was saying.

"I'm not finished, listen." She smiled once more, "There's a school called Konohagakure High on Fire Island surrounded by Matsuyama city." Going into her purse, she pulled out this brochure and handed to me and I immediately opened it, surprised by how beautiful the place was. "It's been up for, I think, at least a decade and so it's fairly new but the education is said to be outstanding."

"So, why do you want me to go here? Just because the education is good?" I asked her, still unsure of why she wanted me to go to this school.

Groaning, her hands were on her hips. She was annoyed by my interrupting, but I was still trying to take all of this in. Jeesh. Walking towards me, she took the brochure out of my hands and then held my hands, showing sincerity for what she was about to say. "Ever since the accidents, I know how much you closed yourself off. You even told me to cut your hair to let go of the past, but I think it's about time you leave Tokyo and explore a new place... get to know new people."

I know what you're thinking, my aunt is the sweetest, isn't she? She literally is. She's my beacon of light to be honest. Aunt Airi has looked out for me since she was eighteen literally taking care of me while she was still in college. "I just want you to have a fun life instead of worrying about all we went through. All you went through." One hand went to my face, her thumb brushing against my cheek.

"Auntie…" I mumbled, finding myself wanting to cry because of her kind heart. I don't know how I could ever repay her for all she has done for me even though she says that this is all her responsibility just for being my aunt.

"Your mom and dad's insurance put me through school and kept a roof over our head and food in our stomach, and since then I've been saving what's left and adding to it to take care of your future." Airi said to me, "And I think Konohagakure high will be good for you."

It was impossible to say no the way her blue eyes were looking at me, shining with happiness and also concern. All Aunt Airi wanted was a good life for me, so what did I look like objecting? "Alright, I'll do it." After saying that, I felt a little excited. "I'll start packing."

Slipping away from my aunt, I went speeding to my room to hear her chuckling at my excitement. Even though I was going to miss Tokyo, my home, I felt happy to be leaving it. I knew more than anything that I would be homesick and I would miss my aunt the most, but it honestly felt good to get away.

And here I am, on this train going across the ocean to Fire Island. So far, the island was purely beautiful and the ocean was so blue and so vast, it felt like it would stretch on forever. It was hard not to stare out the window at it. I wish I had came earlier but watching how the orange sky had lit over the ocean was breathtaking. My aunt did warn me to leave earlier but I have a hard time remembering to wake early on a non-school day. Not just that, I spent the whole night talking with my aunt because I couldn't handle the excitement. I barely wanted to sleep.

Still, I couldn't help but think how much it probably cost my aunt to afford all this: the tuition, the dormitory, the uniform fees, and her even sending me money every month as an allowance. I know she said she saved up money after using what was left of my parent's insurance covering our clothes, food, her student loans and tuition, my tuition because I went to private school, and so much more. My aunt really worked her ass off instead of relying too much on my parent's insurance.

_'She a miracle worker, isn't she?'_ I thought to myself, thinking about her. One day, I hope to be successful to pay her kindness back. I owe her, big time.

The sky was dark, the moon shining brightly above and it's reflection distorted on the ocean's surface. It was kind of scary to be in a new place at night but I wasn't going to let that shake me. Still, there was that lingering feeling of uneasiness but that's because of what I've seen during the night.

What do I see? Well, ever since I was young I've seen this strange thing happen at night. When the clock strikes twelve, it's like the whole world stops or more like, a new world opens. I've always been scared of it and so I threw the blanket over my head until it was over, it felt like it would last for an hour but it felt so scary. It felt so strange.

I wonder if it'll happen here too. I mean, it only started happening when I was hit by that car as a child. I remember crossing a street when a car came out of nowhere or at least, I was told it was a car. I'm not even sure what it was but I just knew I woke up in the hospital with my parents hovering over me, afraid.

My life is really a mess to be quite frank. Far cry of normal, I can attest to that.

The train came to a stop, which made my heart jump a little. I was getting closer to my dormitory, all I had was the map they sent me through my phone. Raising my pink-cased phone as I got off the train with my suitcase in my other hand.

"Why are the street names so weird?" I found myself saying out loud, squinting as I looked at them. The street names seemed foreign, which I couldn't even imagine why. "Is that Italian? Yeah, I think its Italian." Why would they name the streets like that in Japan? I mean, I wasn't complaining but it seemed so… random. "Via dei Fori Imperiali is where the school is, but where is the dorms?"

I continued looking at my phone, trying to make sense of it all. "Via Sacra? That's where my dorm is…" I walked a little further down the side walk. I found my dorm, which was called: "East wing Konoha."

Lifting my suitcase up the steps, with somewhat of a struggle, I walked through the dormitory doors. It felt entirely empty.

"Hello?" I said, "Is anybody here?" Nope, it seemed like I was the only one here. "Well…" I sighed, unsure of what room I had and how I was supposed to unpack my things. They sure sucked when it came to welcoming new students, didn't they? Maybe it was just plainly my fault for being late anyway.

And that's when it happened.

Everything had went a strange color, like a strange, bright green. I quickly turned around to look through the window of the doors, searching for the bright yellow moon. I then became distracted by the overall feeling of a presence. "Who's there?!" Shouting now, my eyes looked all over the place for the person I felt around.

"Y-You're awake?"

Just hearing the voice made me jump. Quickly, I spun around to see a girl about my age, standing right there in front of me. Her hair was a platinum blonde, pulled in a high-ponytail with a long bangs covering the right side of her face. She was wearing a school uniform too, I recognized it from the brochure and my own from when Aunt Airi showed me.

"Umm…" I found myself humming, "why would I not be awake?"

She looked dumbfounded still but then shook her head, and that's when I noticed she had something in her hand. My eyes went wide when I fully registered that there was a gun in her hand. The girl must've noticed me staring and immediately moved the gun behind her and out of my sight. "You must be new then, welcome to Konoha high!"

What the hell?

"Why the hell do you have a—"

"Haruno?" The second voice caught me off guard, and I looked over towards them. It was another girl, one with fair skin and bright, red hair. Her hair was short and spiky on the right side, while longer and straight on the left. It was weird, in my opinion, but it suited her, I guess.

She too was wearing a Konohagakure high school uniform. "Y-Yeah, that's me."

Seriously, what the hell was going on? Why does that girl have a gun?! "You're, uh, pretty late." said the red head, who approached me. "I'm Uzumaki Karin and that's Yamanaka Ino, we're your dorm mates."

I feel completely unsettled about this. "Oh… Well, I'm Haruno Sakura, but you already knew that." A nervous laughed escaped my throat, but I eventually had enough in ignoring the problem at him.

"So, why do—" They didn't even let me get the sentence out. They knew what I was going to ask and so they just bum rushed the whole question.

"Ino will be showing you towards your dorm, I have something to do." Everything felt extremely off.

"O...Okay." I blinked several times as Karin went upstairs, probably towards her dorm room or something. Wherever she was going, something important awaited and I was entirely curious about it.

The strange light had completely disappeared and everything was back to normal. That was strange, it usually lasted longer than that. And so I looked at my cellphone and to my surprise, it wasn't twelve o'clock and so why did it happen so early? It was only 10:30.

Ino placed the gun in the holster around her thigh, which reminded me of how uncomfortable and confused I was. Either way, she still greeted me with a bright smile and that made me even more uncomfortable and perplexed.

I decided not to let this question go. "Why the hell do you have a gun?" I repeated myself, expecting an answer. How could I rest my head in this building and there was a girl with a gun with her?

"Oh, uh, it's a prop! It's not real, wanna see?" She pulled the gun out of the holster and handed it towards me.

"Whoa!" My hands flew up, afraid to touch the weapon. A prop?! It looked completely real?! How could I believe her? I didn't know her, I couldn't trust her.

Grimacing, I watched as she moved it forward and nodded her head as if to confirm that it was not actually a gun. She seemed adamant about making me believe. Maybe I could give her the benefit of the doubt, "Alright.. I believe you."

With a sigh of relief, the blonde continued leading me up the staircase and then towards the third floor. Apparently, my room was 306, right in the middle of the two doors, which meant I would have one person on either side of me.

"I'm 305 and across the hall, that one room, 304 is Karin's room." Ino explained, I nodded my head. "307 is empty, it's reserved for another person that wants to stay here."

It made me curious if anyone would ever want to take the space, but even so, I was more excited about my own room. "You need help unpacking?"

"N-No!" I immediately said, "I only have this one suitcase and plan to go shopping for new clothes. I never realized how many clothes I actually grew out of."

"You mean you gained weight?" Ino questioned.

My face was deadpanned, my eyes boring holes into her since I was offended by what she said. I was petite, I was hardly fat if that was what she was implying. "Uhm, no. I actually grew a bit taller that's why and I lost some weight from exercising."

"Oh," Ino said, nodding understandingly. "Well, you should get some sleep and so should I. I'll take you to school in the morning if that's okay with you. It's okay with you, right?"

"Yeah, it's okay with me." I wasn't sure if disagreeing would've been a good thing. I'm still a bit iffy about that gun even though I decided to trust her. I watched her walked towards her door as I tightened the grip of my suitcase. Opening my own door with the key I had received days prior to leaving, I unlocked the door but Ino came running back.

"Oh, and one more thing!" Ino said, "Don't tell anyone about today."

"Tell anyone what? That you had a prop gun?" I knew it! I knew something was weird around her. What the hell is going on?!

"Uh… nevermind!" Ino then ran back to her room, shutting the door behind her. Can this situation get even crazier?

Whatever, I think I need sleep. I must be losing my mind.

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**Author's Note:** So what do you think of the first chapter so far? R&R!


	2. Chapter 2: First Day-Z

**Disclaimer:** I do not own Naruto or its characters.

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How was Sakura able to sleep last night? She didn't know how, but she managed much to her discomfort. The fact that Ino, a girl she met that lives in her dorm, had a "prop" gun and then told her not to tell others was unsettling. Then there was the idea that that strange "thing" that happened at twelve had appeared even here, before the time it usually happens. What a way to wake up to her first day of school.

Sluggishly, the pink-haired girl had threw her legs from off her bed, letting her bare and petite feet touch the floor. Now that she could fully see the room due to the blinding sunlight that came from her window, going through the blinds, it seemed like it was suited for her.

In the far left corner was a mirror cabinet and a sink, meant for brushing teeth and washing her face. On the far right of the room was a desk near the average sized window, which she planned to put her laptop on and probably a desk lamp. The place needed some decoration but at least it was comfy, especially the plain, pink blanket.

There was no way she could put Ino, who promised to take her to school, in an awkward position, despite what happened last night. While grabbing a towel and wash cloth, she left to the showers at the far right of the hall.

A shower felt really good in the morning, and it helped woke her up too! Man, she could feel her energy surging after taking a nice, long shower. "Sakura, you in there?"

Ino's voice certainly startled her, leaving Sakura with her hand on her chest as she tried to calm her heart that nearly stopped. "Y-Yeah, I'm in here."

"When you're dressed, come meet me in the lobby! I'll be waitin' for ya." Sakura could hear the sound of feet running away from the bathroom's door, leaving her perplexed and relieved especially since she couldn't get what happened last night out of her mind.

It was probably something that was going to nag on her until she got a better explanation. Hopefully, she could just forget and actually believe that Ino was in a drama club of some sorts and it was really a prop.

_'...What the hell?'_ She thought, running her fingers through her hair as she made her way towards her room to change into her uniform. _'One thing, I can't tell Aunt Airi about it. She'll take me out of the school before I even step in it.'_

She buttoned the white, short-sleeved blouse and looked at the pink, sweater jacket on the bed. It was spring and so it was warm, there was no need for it until fall and winter. Next was the black, short skirt. After putting it on, Sakura looked down at her bare legs, grimacing slightly as she put on her black, short socks. _'If I hadn't shaved before I left, this would've been a disaster.'_

Lastly was the red, necktie. It looked like a large ribbon, but Sakura thought it was kind of cute. Looking over herself in the mirror, her fingers looked at the ends of her now shoulder-length hair. "I kind of miss my long hair…" She mumbled, "But Auntie did a good job making it neat."

Sakura had cut her hair four years, after her parents had died. It was her way of accepting their death, letting go of the past. It was her way to not dwell and continue to cry at the lost of them. It felt even better to be at a different school and different place with her new short hair, it really felt like she was staring over.

All set!

The pink-haired girl smiled at her reflection but then glanced towards her desk. Her red ribbon was lying there and she felt hesitant. _'Should I put it on?'_ She wondered before looking away. Her mother gave her that ribbon when she was young, and she used to always wear it.

Shaking her head, she chose not to. No, she had to continue to move forward. She would keep it as a memento and that was it. No more reflecting on the past. Grabbing her briefcase-like, book bag she had walked out of her room and locked the door behind her.

_'I can't keep Ino waiting.'_ Running down the staircase, she had seen the blonde looking at a book as she sat on the large sofa. "Sorry for taking so long, Yamanaka!"

"It's no big deal, we'll make it." A smile was on her face as she placed the book in her book bag before walking towards Sakura, walking alongside her out of the dormitory. "Did you sleep okay?"

"Yeah! I usually can't sleep the first day I stay somewhere, but I fell asleep with ease." Sakura replied as they walked along the sidewalk and towards the station.

When they made it to the passenger train, Sakura was in awe how the ocean looked during the day as the train quickly departed. "We have to take the monorail to get there." Ino explained, "I bet your last school wasn't like that, huh?"

"No, not at all. It was really boring." It was true. Private school was certainly boring, even though her friends made it a bit exciting. Ah, she would have to call them to let them know she was doing.

Ino smiled and then looked out the window. "This is my favorite part in going to school. It's like you're gliding over the sea."

"Yeah…" Sakura sighed, still in awe. "Our stop is Fire Island station, right? Then we walk from there? I'm still trying to make sense of the map."

Ino nodded, "Yup! That's it." She then looked towards the green-eyed girl with curiosity, "Have you ever heard of Fire Island before you came here?"

"Not at all." Sakura admitted, "I felt confused when my aunt told me about it."

"Oh?" The girl smiled, "It's a man-made island. They built our school right in the middle. Oh, look, you can see it now!" She pointed towards the window, Sakura's bright eyes had followed the direction she was pointing to.

Her eyes widened upon the large school, it was certainly beautiful and had that new feel. The building was white with several large windows going down the center and six medium sized windows going down the sides. Cherry blossom trees were on each side of the walkway and three, small sets of stairs leading up to the three large entrance doors.

Her aunt was right, the school was certainly new. When the monorail came to a halt, they had went down the stainless steel staircase and walked up the sidewalk. Sakura noticed the many students that were walking towards the school.

"Morning!" One student said, it was a female student and they were addressing Ino.

"Morning!" Ino replied with a smile.

_'She must be really popular.'_ Sakura thought, watching as several students greeted the girl walking beside her.

Scratching the side of her cheek nervously, she realized that many people would notice her due to her being new. She could already see a few eyes observing her, acknowledging her.

Sakura always hated being the new student. It was hard to adjust into a school and being one of the new people, but she was kind of glad she went to school with Ino and was getting friendly with her or else she would've felt completely alone.

"Well, we're here!" Her concentration was broken as they stood in front of the school. The large school gates were open before them. "Welcome to Konohagakure High! You'll love it here!"

It was hard not to smile at Ino's greeting as Sakura looked up at the building with new found excitement. There was so many people to meet and places around the school to see.

Sakura followed her inside the school until they reached the school lockers. Sakura did receive which locker was her own, and it was… "303." She mumbled, remembering it from the top of her head and walked towards it.

Slipping out her of her brown loafers, she placed on the white uwabaki's that was custom for any school in Japan. "You're okay from here, right?" Ino asked her. "The first thing you should do is see your homeroom teacher."

"Ah, okay." She nodded.

Ino then pointed towards an area, "The Faculty Office is right there to the left." She directed her, which Sakura nodded her head understandingly.

"If you have any questions, you should ask me." Ino was really nice, wasn't she? "Do you have any?"

"Nope, I'll be okay." Sakura answered and then wave, "See ya!"

"See ya later!" With a wave, the blonde scurried off leaving Sakura at the shoe lockers. Her eyes went over to the bulletin board where nearly everyone was standing.

_'Should probably check that out.'_ She told herself before walking over. When people started to disperse, she roamed her eyes over the bulletin board. _'Class rosters? I should look for my name.'_

As she looked all over the board, she couldn't find her name. _'Where the hell is my name?!'_ She questioned before she noticed her name, on a small note. _'...Really?'_ Her eyes narrowed slightly and she sighed. 'Haruno Sakura - Class B.' Looking closer, she noticed familiar names. 'Uzumaki Karin' and 'Yamanaka Ino.'

_'I guess we'll be in the same class.'_ Turning around, she looked at the two open hallways at either side. _'Uh… She said the one on the left was the Faculty Office, right?'_ Confused, she walked down that hall and saw two adults talking.

"Jiraiya! I'm going to give you one more warning. Back the _hell_ off!" A woman said, with straight blonde, hair that was pulled into two, low ponytails and bangs framing the side of her face. She wore a white coat, green button down shirt, and black skirt with black, small heels.

The man she spoke to had spiky, white hair that was waist-length and pulled into a ponytail with two, shoulder-length bangs that framed his face. He was extremely tall, probably 6'5" and fit. "Come on, Tsunaaaaaa~"

Sakura grimaced, she could hear his the perverseness in his voice. Looking towards the door signs, she could see the Faculty Office was right to her right. Sliding the door open, she walked in and closed it behind her.

"New student?"

The masculine voice caught her by surprise. _'Holy hell is he hot!'_ Was Sakura immediate thoughts, she even mentally laughed at how that was her first reaction. The man that stood before her was relatively tall, with spiky and silver hair. His eyes were dark, nearly black. Despite the odd, vertical scar that ran over his left eye, he was still attractive.

He had this lazy look on his face, but he still managed to smile. "Y-Yeah, I'm Haruno Sakura." She introduced herself.

"Second year, correct?" He asked and she nodded in reply. Picking up a folder, he flipped through the pages in a file. "Wow, you lived in a lot of different places."

It was true, her parents did move around a lot due to her father previously being in the military and then the shabby apartment Airi had until they finally got themselves a nice home. He remained silent as he continued reading before glancing up at her, "I'm Hatake Kakashi, but please call me Kakashi-sensei. I teach History. Welcome to our school."

"I-I'm pleased to meet you!" Bowing respectfully to the teacher, she had both hands wrapped around the handle of her book bag.

Giving her a small smile, he then asked another another question. "Have you seen the classroom assignments?"

"Yes, I'm in class 2-B." Sakura answered.

"That's my class." He clarified, she was a bit surprised but relieved all the same. She felt like she would like him as a teacher, "But first, we need to go to the auditorium." He then sighed, "The Welcoming Ceremony will be starting soon."

"U-Uh, do you want me to follow you?" She asked as he nodded his head, and with that she followed him out of the office and let him lead her to towards the auditorium.

"As you begin the new school year," said what looked to be the principal as she sat down in her chair and watched Kakashi join the other teachers alongside the walls. The principal was a man of mocha skin color, and somewhat short. He was old with spiked, grey hair and a grey goatee. His cheekbones were pronounced, a few wrinkles here and there, a wart on his left nostril, and a few-liver sports. He wore a brown suit with a yellow vest and a red tie. "I'd like each of you to remember—"

Sakura completely tuned out his speech, but not to be rude but because she could hear students around her murmuring. Curious, she focused on what they were saying. "I heard we got a transfer student."

Worried, she realized that they were talking about her. "Yep. I've seen her, too. She came to school with Ino."

These were male voices to make matters worse. Did she want to hear what they had to say? "I hear talking!" One teacher said, obviously frustrated by the sounds of student chatter while the principal was giving his speech. "I believe it's someone from Hatake's class."

Kakashi rose a brow and then looked towards his class, "Shh." He shushed them, his finger in front of his mouth to emphasize he wanted them quiet.

Sakura sighed, wondering how these rumors were going on about. She knew that people noticed her when she was walking towards the school gates. When the speech was over, they left as a class and went to homeroom.

Now in the classroom, she took the second to last seat in the first row. Kakashi already said they would not be doing work but he'll give them an outline of what they'll be covering in history class beforehand. Her eyes scanned the room as the students were coming into class, Karin had waved at her and she waved back as the redhead took a seat in front of her and Ino smiled and sat next to Sakura. "How's everything going so far? I know the day just started, but I'm glad you didn't get lost."

"Everything is pretty okay." Sakura said, "Nothing unusual, really."

"Really?" Karin said, turning towards Sakura and joining in their conversation. "The first day I came here, a boy got thrown out of the window."

"What?!" Sakura looked at her in horror.

"Just kidding! Karin chuckled, Ino grinned as Sakura seemed to calm down.

She didn't expect Karin to have a friendly behavior, especially with how serious she seemed yesterday but she seemed like a person Sakura was going to enjoy being around.

"Haven't seen anyone hot, huh? The first time I came to this school, I was scopin' out the guys." The blonde said, which made Karin raise a brow.

"I always thought you had a thing for chubby." Chubby? Who was that? Ino glowered at the redhead.

"Hell no! We're just friends!" She warned Karin, "Oh and she means my friend Choji, Akimichi Choji."

"Is he in our class?" Sakura asked as Ino nodded, pointing towards the husky boy in the second row with a bag of chips in his hand. He had long, brown spiky hair that went down his back. Sakura couldn't see much of his face, but she could tell he wasn't bad looking, he was just robust for her liking and apparently Ino's.

Her emerald eyes then looked back at the blonde female, "But there is someone you like?"

"She likes two guys." Karin answered for her, rolling her eyes as she did so. She seemed annoyed by it and Sakura couldn't fathom why.

"Is everyone here? Alright, time for roll call." Kakashi said as he looked down at sheet of paper. "Aburame, Shino." He called out, a boy with shades had raised his hand. He didn't say present or anything, "Okay…" Kaskashi check him off as present. "Akimichi, Choji." He called the next boy, who they just spoke about. "What did I tell you about eating in class, Akimichi? Please wait until lunchtime."

"S-Sorry, Kakashi-sensei." The boy said before raising the back and chowing down what was left. Kakashi shook his head as the class snickered before Choji left his desk to put the empty chip bag in the trash and returned to his desk.

"Oh, how could I forget? We have a new student." He smiled towards Sakura, "If you could please stand in front of the class and introduce yourself." Nodding, knowing that it was customary, Sakura stood and walked to the front of the class.

The first thing she did was go to the blackboard and write her last name and first name. When finished, she turned around and looked at everyone with her best smile, she stood with her hands interlocked in front of her. "Hello, I'm Haruno Sakura." Feeling a bit nervous, she continued on. "I'm came here from Tokyo and I am excited to be here in Fire Island. Please take good care of me." She ended it with a bow, the class in awe by her politeness.

"Thank you, Haruno. You may take your seat." Nodding, Sakura walked back to the seat she was sitting at.

"Every guy probably lost their mind with the 'please take care of me' thing." Ino whispered as Sakura gave her a nervous expression. Was she serious or was she just teasing?

"Hyūga, Hinata." His eyes looked to the right side of the room as Sakura looked towards the person he called.

A small hand hesitantly raised into the air. "H-Here." A soft voice stuttered as a girl with long, dark purple hair and pale skin.

"Thank you, Hinata." Kakashi smiled. "Hyūga, Neji."

"Present." said the brown-haired boy, he had a very serious expression on his face.

Kakashi nodded and check him off. The man then looked up again, "Inuzuka, Kiba."

"Here!" The boy said, rather loudly too.

"Mhm." The man hummed, "Lee, Rock."

"I am here, Kakashi-sensei! Never would I, Lee Rock, miss a day of school! Never would I diminish my youth and education."

The teacher gave him a dull expression, "I know you would never dream of it." He replied before continuing on, "Hōzuki, Suigetsu."

"Here!" said a boy with straight white hair with a light-blue tint to it and purple eyes.

"Nara, Shikarmaru."

"Here…" The boy said with a sigh, his cheek against his palm.

"Shizuka, Sai." Kakashi called the next student.

"Present." The pale skin boy said, his voice quite as blank but somewhat of a smile appearing.

Kakashi then looked around, "Tsukuda, Tenten."

"Present." The brunette answered. She was sitting between Neji and Lee.

"Yamanaka, Ino." Kakashi called next. The platinum blonde, haired girl raised her hand, "Here!" She said in a lively fashion.

"Yoshida, Jūgo."

"Here." said a boy with outlandish orange hair.

"Uchiha, Sasuke." Kakashi called out."Here." He answered with his arm raised. Sakura looked behind her, sitting behind Ino was Sasuke. He had pale skin, not too pale but a fair-like pale. His eyes were an onyx color and his hair was obsidian. His hair was also chin-length; spiky in the back with bangs that framed his face.

He was handsome.

"Uzumaki, Karin." Kakashi announced, the redhead raised her hand.

"Present." She answered.

"And lastly, thank God… Uzumaki, Naruto."

"Here!" The boy named Naruto said enthusiastically. He was sitting behind her.

He was lean with bright, blonde hair that was spiky and seemed to stick up on his head. His eyes were a bright blue, bright like the ocean that surrounded the island. Sakura noted that he was also handsome.

He caught her gaze, which surprised her and gave her a toothy grin. "Hey."

Quickly turning around, she looked at Kakashi who had checked off the last name on the paper, and seemed quite relieved that roll call was over.

**o**O**o** After School **o**O**o**

Sakura could say that the overall day was pretty good. Many people came to speak to her and she had gotten to know how most people behaved. Suigetsu was friendly even though most of her time meeting him was watching him argue with Karin and even trying to break the two apart. Shikamaru seemed quite lazy, and it was shocking to find out he was the Student Council president and Karin was his vice president. She never imagined either one to have such a position. Hinata was nice, from what she could tell, they barely spoke however.

Choji was kind, and even funny. He always seemed to want to eat, which grated Ino's nerves. Sakura also found out that Shikamaru, Choji, and Ino were childhood friends and were neighbors in their hometown of Nagasaki. Lee was also kind and had greeted her and was quite friendly while complimenting her a lot. It left Sakura confused and unsettled, but she tried to remain friendly.

"Hey." As she stood at her desk, her eyes turned to look at Naruto. "Heh! You look like a deer in headlights." Did she look that surprised?

"What do you want?" Sakura said, somewhat angry at how he found her surprise humorous.

"I'm Uzumaki Naruto, nice to meet ya." He pointed to himself with his thumb proudly, but with a large smile on his face. "I transferred here when I was in 8th grade. I know how tough it is being the new kid… So I thought I'd check up on you, make sure you weren't freakin' out on your first day, dattebayo."

A small smile appeared on Sakura's face. "At it again, huh?" Karin said with a sigh, "Honestly, is there any girl you wouldn't hit on?"

Looking at Karin and Ino as they approached them, Sakura blinked twice. "Did you ever think you might be bothering someone?"

Oh yeah, that's right. She also found out that Karin and Naruto were cousins just like Hinata and Neji. "What? But I was just bein' friendly!" Naruto defended himself, "But I also seen Sakura before."

"You have?" Sakura, Karin, and Ino all said in a unision.

"Heh…" The boy rubbed the back of his head, "I guess she doesn't remember." He seemed to mumble, making it hard for the trio of girls to hear.

"What did you say?" asked Sakura.

"If you say so." Karin dismissively said, "Anyway, some coincidence that we'd be in the same homeroom, huh?" She said to Sakura.

"It took me by surprise." Sakura said with a smile.

Karin chuckled, "You too?"

"Um, hello? Did you forget I'm in this class too?" Naruto inched his face closer to his cousin, annoyed how she was pushing him out of the conversation. "C'mon, lemme in on the fun!" He then looked briefly at Sakura and then at Ino, "By the way, do you guys know each other? I heard you two came to school together this morning." He grinned, "Two pretty girls walking side by side… The whole class was buzzing about you."

Ino smirked, "Glad to know your taste in women isn't terrible, Naruto. But yeah, we did. She lives in my dormitory with Karin." Looking at her wrist, she gasped. "Crap! I gotta go, I have some archery team stuff to take care of. Don't try anything funny, you got that Naruto?"

Ino ran off after her warning. Karin's eyes were staring straight at someone else, which made Sakura follow her gaze. A boy was walking over to them, it was Uchiha Sasuke. He seemed stoic as ever, his hands sheathed in his pockets.

However, between him and Karin, there was an intense stare off. Behind her black, thick-rimmed glasses were her eyes ablaze while Sasuke kept himself nonchalant. "Karin." He spoke first.

"Sasuke." She said with gritted teeth.

Wow, this felt uncomfortable. "Uh…" Sakura hummed.

"I'll be leaving first." Karin grabbed her bag, "See ya later, Sakura." She said as Sakura nodded and wave, watching the redhead leave them.

Naruto looked towards the boy, "You guys are still not over it?"

Sasuke glanced at the blond at the corner of his eyes, "Shut up."

Well, whatever that was going on between him and Karin had Sakura's mind awoke. She was getting insanely curious. "Ah, this is Sakura, transfer student."

"I'm not deaf or blind, Naruto." Sasuke said before his onyx pupils gazed at her. She felt small under his gaze, it was like he was sizing her up. He could certainly chew her up and spit her out with just his looks alone.

"Nice to meet you." Sakura found herself saying, trying to ease up the tension that somehow didn't leave just yet.

"Same." Well, he certainly wasn't the talkative type or maybe he just didn't feel comfortable around her

Wanting to get out of this situation, she looked at them. "I'll be going." Scurrying off, she left the classroom and went into the hall.

"That's the girl I saw in Tokyo a couple of days ago!" Naruto told his best friend, a grin on his face as he couldn't hold in his excitement.

"The beautiful girl that you immediately fell for?" That's how Naruto explained it, "Did she recognize you?"

"I never actually, really talked to her. It was like a brief kinda thing, y'know?" He tried to explain, rubbing the back of his next. "I mean, I bet she won't remember. It wasn't important."

"Hmph." Sasuke huffed, "I'm going to my dorm."

"Alright, catch ya later, Sasuke!" Waving, Naruto wondered if he could catch up with Sakura.

In the hallway, Sakura had walked with her eyes looking around. Some students were loitering about as she thought about her day so far. "Hey Sakura!" Looking over her shoulder, she saw Naruto running down the hall. "You should let me walk you back to your dorm."

"You don't have to do that, I'll be fine by myself." said Sakura, not wanting Naruto to feel inconvenienced.

"No, it'll be okay! C'mon." He pleaded, his hands in praying form as a form of begging.

Chuckling, Sakura shrugged her shoulders. "Alright, let's go." When they made it to the shoe lockers, they both changed and walked out the front doors.

"Whoa, check out the jocks!" He said, pointing at them. Sakura checked out the guys that were running around the school. Wasn't there a trackfield? She assumed that it wasn't extreme enough. Within the group of guys running was Lee. "Hey, did you decide on a school club?"

"School club?" Sakura repeated.

"Yeah, you should join one. You'd being joining as a new member though, so you won't be able to apply for a little while." He explained, "I'm on the basketball team."

Sakura rose a brow, "Then why did you say 'check out the jocks' when you, yourself are a jock?"

"I don't really consider myself one." He said, rubbing the back of his head. Rolling her eyes, she continued to walk. "So, uh, you were born in Tokyo?"

Sakura shook her head, "I was born in Hokkaido but I was raised in a whole lot of places due to my father being in the military. There was a time I lived in Italy, France, and even America!" She didn't want to brag, but it was true.

Naruto was totally into the conversation, at awe that she traveled so much. "Then why did you say you were from Tokyo?"

"'Cause I lived there the longest, and currently lived there with my aunt." She explained as she looked up at the sky.

He frowned slightly, "Oh...So you don't live with your parents?"

"No." She shook her head, "But anyway, what about you? Where are you from?"

The blond grinned, "I'm from Naruto?"

"Naruto? You mean in Tokushima prefecture?" Sakura chuckled, "Your parents named you after that city?"

He nodded happily, "Yeah, it's my mom's hometown and she loved the place to death and so she named after the city. It was pretty hard going around, "My name is Naruto and I'm _from_ Naruto." dattebayo."

Her right hand was over her mouth as she continued to laugh. A tint of red appeared on his cheekbones hearing her laugh. _'Even her laugh is pretty...'_ He mentally complimented as they boarded the monorail.

"You don't have to take me all the way to my dorm, I mean-" He shook his head as they sat down next to her each other, Sakura placed her bookbag on her lap.

"You're in East Wing, right? That's where Karin is staying, and so I'm used to going there." He sighed, "Besides, my dorm is down the street from there and so it's no big deal."

"Oh." She was surprised, "Who are your dorm mates?"

"Uhhh…" He scratched his cheek as he thought, "Lee, Suigetsu, Gaara and Temari, Azusa, and Matsuri."

Sakura didn't know who Gaara, Temari, Azusa or Matsuri were. They were probably students of a different class. "It's just you, Sasuke, Karin, and Ino in your dorm, right?"

"Sasuke?" Sakura repeated, "I-I didn't know he was in my dorm. I'm still overwhelmed that they are co-ed."

"You didn't know." Naruto blinked a few times as she nodded, confirming that she did not know. "Oh, yeah, well… Our dorms are different."

"Speaking of Sasuke," Looking up at Naruto, she watched at his brows wrinkled, "what?"

"Don't tell me you're a Sasuke fangirl?" He seemed oddly annoyed about that.

"What?! I don't even know him!" Sakura defended herself.

He sighed in relief, "Good. You don't even know how it's like walking to school with him. "Sasuke-senpaiiiiiiiii~" or "Senpaiiiiiiiiiiiiii" All the time!" Sakura laughed at his impression of the girls, watching as he puckered up his lips and batted his eyes.

"A lot of the first years like him, huh?" It didn't surprise her. Sasuke was good looking and pulled off the ice cold, bad boy kinda thing.

"Not just first years, girls of every year." This appeared to anger Naruto, but he wasn't angry as before when he speculated that she might be one of Sasuke's fangirls.

Shrugging, she smiled. "Well, I'm not. I don't even know him, but he's easy on the eyes."

Biting down on his lip, he glared at the pink-haired girl at the corner of his eyes. "Anyway, what about him did you want to know?"

"Oh, I wanted to ask what was with him and Karin?" queried Sakura, "It felt like war when they looked at each other."

The boy seemed hesitant to answer, even quickly telling her that they reached her stop and left the monorail. She rose a brow as he wanted to avoid the conversation while walking on the sidewalk, "So, uh, do you like Fire Island? Did you look around?"

Why was he avoiding the question, "Ah, no. I did not." She answered honestly.

With a proud grin, "I'd take you on a tour around the place!" Sakura blinked a few times and gave him a skeptical expression, "Naruto, are you asking me on a date?"

"Well, y—" Before he could answer, they were already in front of her dormitory.

Sakura then turned to look at Naruto, waving her hand. "Thanks for walking me here. It was nice talking to you, Naruto."

With a smile, he waved. "It was nice talking to you too, Sakura."

He watched her walk in her dorm with a smile as she continued on ahead. Karin was sitting on the sofa that was against the wall, her notebook in hand. Looking up from what she was reading, she noticed Sakura. "Welcome back."

"Thanks." Sakura said before looking at the counter to see a sign-in sheet. Walking over, she wrote what time she left for school and what time she came back to her dorm. "Are you studying?"

"Mhm," Karin nodded, "I'm taking French class and so I'm studying some things ahead of the class."

She must've been smart, but then again, she was student council vice president. She had to be. "Sounds cool, I don't know what club to join." Sakura said, sitting down on the opposite sofa and looking down at the coffee table.

"Well, what are you good at?" Karin questioned, "There's Tennis, Music, Art, Photography, Home Ec ( Fashion club), Kendo, Swim, Track, Volleyball, Cooking club." Wow, that was a lot of clubs. "Boxing, Fencing, and Archery are full and that's why I didn't mention them."

Sighing, she tried to think of which ones sound more appealing. "I think I might take Volleyball." She nodded, "I don't know about a second one, but I guess music and art seem okay? But I think I should take Cooking Club because my cooking is terrible."

The redhead chuckled, "You have a lot of time to decide anyway, Sakura. You're new and so they aren't going to open up spots for you until they get their shit together."

"I know, I'm just making myself worried over nothin'." Sighing, she shrugged. "Ah, oh well, I'll think about it later."

Nodding, she looked at the entrance doors as another person walked in. It was Sasuke. Again, Sakura could feel the electric tension between the two as they stared at each other for a few minutes before Karin looked away. "Welcome back."

Sasuke didn't say anything and continued forward, making his way to the stairs. "What's going on between you two?"

"Nothing is going on between me and that asshole." Karin said forcibly, forcing a smile on her face as well.

Of course Sakura wasn't buying it, but whatever it was, it seemed very sensitive. It was really nagging on her mind. Looking to her left, she had seen Ino sitting at the dining table. "Ah, Ino is here, I'm going to go say hi real quick. G-Go back to your studies."

Perplexed, Karin watched as the pink-haired girl stood and basically ran her way to Ino. Ino was texting from what she could see, her face changing from frown to a grin to an angry expression and grin again. Obviously, she was texting more than one person since one people wasn't able to evoke so many emotions within seconds.

"Hey Ino." Sakura said, capturing the girl's attention.

"Oh, hi. What're you doing?." Ino's icy, blue eyes looked away from the Galaxy phone in her hands to look at Sakura.

"Nothing." Sakura shrugged, "Just looking around."

"Well, there's not much to see…" Ino replied, "You're probably pretty tired, huh? Maybe you should go to bed early tonight."

Wait, was she rushing her to sleep? Sakura squinted her eyes in skepticism and confusion. "Uh, okay, well see ya."

With a wave, Sakura had walked up the stairs and went to her room. She took her loafers off and placed them on the shoe shelf beside her door and threw her bookbag at the corner.

For some reason, she did feel tired. Was it Ino's words that made her realize how tired she was? Sakura walked towards the mirror, running cold water from the sink and splashing it against her face.

"Maybe I do need sleep…" She mumbled to herself.

Karin looked up to see Sasuke, her eyes narrowing. "I'm going out for a bit."

"Why?" She questioned.

"You've seen the newspapers lately?" He questioned, "Or the internet for that matter?"

Karin's eyes lowered, "...I know. People who had no problems before are suddenly developing acute cases of Apathy Syndrome. I've seen it in the news quite often lately. They say it's due to stress, but..."

"Yeah, right. It has to be THEM." Sasuke replied, "Otherwise, it's not worth my time..."

Sucking her teeth, the female shut her notebook. "You have a one-track mind... Will you be okay on your own?" Despite the roughness in her voice, when it came to his health, her voice grew soft with concern.

"Tch." He smirked before he walked towards the entrance doors and left, leaving her worried.

With a sigh, she looked down at her book. "This isn't a game, Sasuke..."

**o**O**o** Midnight **o**O**o**

Sakura woke a little before midnight to see if that strange occurrence was going to happen. She looked at the digital clock on her desk, counting down the minutes until it was midnight. When it turned 12, that's when it happened. The lights were off, and there was that strange glow. Sakura bit her bottom lip, feeling confused all over again. Why did she see this? Why did this always happen? Ever since that accident…

"Welcome."

Sakura looked around, and to her left of her bed was a small boy, with a mop of red hair. His eyes were big and brow, and looking at her. "You're late. I've been waiting a long time."

What the hell? Who was this kid? He was even holding a piece of paper out to her. "If you want to continue, the please sign here. It's a contract."

"A contract for what?"

"There's no need to be scared." When he said it like that, it made her even more scared. "It only binds you to accepting full responsibility for your actions?"

What did all of that even mean? What responsibility? What actions? Looking down at the paper, she had seen: 'I chooseth this fate of mine own free will.' Below it was a blank line to sign her name.

Should she sign it? What did all of this even mean? Sakura looked at the boy, who kept his smile as he looked at her. What happened if she declined? "What does all of this mean?"

"It means just as it says. I said there was no need for you to be scared."

"But I don't understand anything!"

Maybe it was just a game. He was a kid after all, chewing on her bottom lip. Sakura sighed her name on the blank line, "...Very well." He said, "Time is something no one can escape. It delivers us all to the same end. Wishing won't make it go away. And so it begins…"

"Wha?" And then suddenly, the boy disappeared. "What the hell is going on?!" Sakura looked around, searching for the boy once more.

_**- / - / -**_

It had to be a dream; that boy, the contract, just all of it! None of it made sense, nothing of it made any sense. She had to be imagining it all. As Sakura walked alone this morning, she subconsciously overhead a conversation between two girls. "Did you hear the rumor…?"

"Oh, um… something about… a bathroom.?"

"N-No!" They nearly shouted, "Not that one! I mean the story about the first-year student!" Sakura picked up the pace, wanting to hear the story fully. "Not only did she stop coming to school, she does nothing but sit and stare at the walls all day. If her mother tries to talk to her, she onlys mutters to herself, "It's coming.. It's coming…!""

This… This rumor was kinda scary, especially after that strange dream she had last night. "Huh. How about that."

"You don't believe me…?"

The first bell rung, which made Sakura pick up the pace. "I have to get to class!"

**o**O**o** Afternoon **o**O**o**

It was history class as Sakura sat her seat, twirling her pink mechanical pencil. All she could think of was that little boy and that contract she signed. 'I chooseth this fate of mine own free will. What the hell does that even mean?' How could she possibly dismiss it.

"Open your textbooks to page 405, we'll be learning about the pre-jomon period." Kakashi announced to the class, "Ugh…" He seemed tired and passive, "why this era?" He questioned mostly to himself.

The kids snickered at their teacher's lack of interest at the subject beforehand. "I'd rather teach the Feudal era or at least the Meiji era…" He continued to complain,"The samurai's and customs of that era are at least more interesting. Not to mention the literature and art movements. My favorite samurai was Bishamonten."

She could hear Naruto laughing about something behind her, he tried to bask to mask his laughing but it failed. Kakashi already heard him, "Naruto, do you even know what I was talking about? Are you listening to me?"

Looking bug-eyed, Naruto conspicuously leaned towards Sakura. "Psst!" Sakura rolled her eyes, "What was Kakashi-sensei talking about?"

"His favorite samurai: Bishamonten." She whispered, knowing that scolding him would only serve to get her in trouble. Not just that, she owed him for being nice.

"Oh, uh!" Naruto cleared his throat as he spoke up, "Your favorite samurai, Bishamonten."

Kakashi's brows rose in surprise, "That's right. So you were listening to me after all."

"Hehehehe!" Naruto stuck out his tongue, rubbing the back of his head. "Well, you know how I like to pay attention!" Kakashi went on to speak to the class, leaving Naruto relieved. "Thanks for having my back, Sakura."

"Next time, you'll be out to fry!" Sakura muttered back as he gulped.

It was in that moment she heard her classmates whispering. "Sakura gave him the answer… She must pay attention in class." Why was everyone talking about her? _'Aren't you supposed to pay attention in class? Idiots.'_

**o**O**o** Evening **o**O**o**

Sakura decided to go back to the dorm by herself, feeling kind of tired. It was hard to sleep last night with that whole weird dream and little boy in her head. She walked in to see Ino already there in the lounge section of the lobby, but also with an unfamiliar man… "Oh, she's back!" Ino said, leaving Sakura confused.

"So this is our new guest…" The man was pale, pale beyond pale. Nearly to the extreme! His hair was black, waist-length and straight. His face was long, cheekbones pronounced, and his eyes were gold and slanted. He looked quite fearsome. "Good evening." He said politely, "My name is Orochimaru. I'm the chairman of the Board for your school."

"O-Oh…" Sakura bowed, "I'm pleased to meet you."

With a smile, he then queried. "Is there anything you'd like to ask?"

"Why did you come here?" Sakura outright asked.

"To welcome you, of course." He said, which she found odd. "Speaking of which… Where's Karin, Ino?"

"She's upstairs." Ino answered.

"As diligent as always. Although, it doesn't hurt to come down and say hello…" The man was odd to her, but if Ino and Karin trusted him then maybe he wasn't that bad.

Still...

"Do you have another question?" He asked Sakura.

"No, not really." The pink-haired girl shook her head and smiled.

"Then I hope you have a successful school year." He said, "Now, if you'll excuse me… You must be tired from all the excitement. You should go to bed early." Narrowing her eyes, she was wondering why he was rushing her to bed. Ino did that yesterday too. Just what was going on… "As they say, "The early bird catches the worm."!"

Sakura was not amused by his joke or pun.

"...Please forgive the bad pun." He apologized, chuckling afterwards.

Ino sighed, rolling her eyes. "You'll get use to his lame jokes."

Whatever, she decided to go to her dorm. Nearly dragging her feet to the third floor, she went to her room and collapsed on her bed. She felt tired, maybe an early rest was good for her.

In what looked like a laboratory, Karin was typing away on a large computer. Her eyes looked at the corners as Orochimaru came into the room. On the screen was Sakura sleeping in bed, "Working hard?" Orochimaru asked, "So, how's she doing?"

"She went to bed a little while ago. She's asleep now." Karin answered, "Chairman, do you think she's…?"

"Well, let's wait and see for now." Orochimaru didn't want Karin to think too far ahead. "The Dark Hour is approaching."

* * *

**Author's Note:** I was on and off about making this story based on Persona 3, but I love p3 too much and decided with it. You do not need to know anything about Persona 3 to enjoy this story, it's pretty different because I'm going to be changing some aspects to make it more original.

Also, I'm debating if I want Sasuke's and Naruto's parents alive. Should I do a road to ninja and be fair and give them both parents? Though, I do like the idea of Itachi raising Sasuke. Just imagining him cooking and asking Sasuke about his day is really cute. And of course, I love MinaKushi and FugaMiko. Sigh... I dunno.


End file.
